Boxes



E. F. COLLINS Nov. 1, 1960 BOXES Filed June 20, 1958 INVENTOR.

EDGAR F. COLLINS FIG. 2.

ATTOR NEYS BOXES Edgar F. Collins, Haddon'field, NJ., assignor to Metal Edge Industries (Inc), a corporation of New Jersey Filed June 20, 1958, Ser. No. 743,258

4 Claims. (Cl. 229-45) This invention pertains generally to packages, and more particularly to a package having a lock as a part of its structure.

The package in accordance with this invention is simple and economical to construct, and at the same time, by virtue of its construction, is durable in use. It affords locking features of excellent holding power, with a type of lock permitting the package to be easily opened and closed as many times as desired, without any tearing or other destruction of the package, or of its lock. Thus the package may be reused as many times as desired.

Generally speaking the package according to this invention may be constructed of any suitable material, for example, heavy paperstock, cardboard, fibreboard, or the like. It is particularly adapted for mailing in that it can be easily opened for postal inspection of its contents, and easily closed and securely relocked.

Another outstanding feature of the invention resides in the design and operation of the locking mechanism, and the protection afiorded against accidental opening of the package during handling, such as in the mail.

Further features of the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the package in open position; and

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the package in closed and locked position.

In the drawings the package is illustrated as comprised of a body section having a cover 11 shown integral therewith. Except for its front wall 12, the body section 10 may be of any desired design and construction, and the same applies to the cover 11, except for the downwardly extending flange 13 shown integral therewith.

Front wall 12 is provided with a cut-out portion or recess 14 at its center, and extending downwardly from its top edge, on opposite sides of which recess are located slots 15 and 16. Slots 15 and 16 are open to, that is extend outwardly from, recess 14, and preferably extend downwardly below recess 14, as shown at 17 and 18 respectively. Slots 15 and 16 are bounded at their tops by overhanging projections 21 and 22, respectively.

Front wall 12 is also provided with vertical slits 23 and 24 on opposite sides of, and spaced from, recess 14.

Flange 13 is provided with spaced, elongated, horizontal tabs 25 and 26 which extend outwardly, one tab on each side of the center of said flange. Tabs 25 and 26 preferably are formed from flange 13 itself by punching, cutting or the like, thus leaving openings 27 and 28, respectively, in flange 13. The uncut portion at the base of each tab is represented by lines 31 and 32, respectively, and such portions are preferably the same distance apart, within reasonable approximation, as the slots 15 and 16.

Upon closing the package, e.g. from its position as il lustrated in Figure l, the cover is brought down, and

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flange 13 is slipped behind front wall '12. Tabs 25 and 26 pass between overhanging projections 21 and 22, and enter slots 15 and 16. The ends of tabs 25 and 26 are then passed through slits 23 and 24, respectively, and, when formed from flange 13, pass through openings 27 and 28, respectively, in flange 13, thus affording an additional locking feature. The flexible and resilient characteristics of the stock from which the package is made permit the foregoing manipulations to be carried out with ease, including the passing of tabs 25 and 26 past projections 21 and 22.

The dimensions of slots 15 and 16 and of slits 23 and 24 are preferably such as to fit more or less closely about tabs 25 and 26.

Overhanging projections 21 and 22 which preferably extend inwardly of recess 14 a distance equal to from 1 to 3 times the thickness of the tabs, such as 1 times such thickness, hold tabs 25 and 26 down in their respective slots 15 and 16, and when slots 15 and 16 extend downwardly below recess 14, the tabs are locked in place. Moreover, by virtue of the ends of tabs 25 and 26 projecting into openings 27 and 28, an additional locking feature is provided.

The package of this invention may partake of any desired dimensions in height, length and width to meet the preferences of the user and/or the demands of the goods to be packaged, particularly in the fields in which packages of the type under discussion are employed, and while particular reference has been made to heavy paperstock, cardboard, and fibreboard (referred to for convenience ascardboard) it is to be understood that any other material possessing similar characteristics of flexibility and resiliency may be substituted. The lock when the package is closed is outstanding in strength, and in its ability to remain in locked position despite the amount of handling. On the other hand it may be easily opened and closed, and is of unusual durability.

It will be understood that, although the invention has been described more particularly in connection with a package having a cover attached to one edge of its body section, this is not an indispensable feature, for it is obvious that the construction at the front of the package may be duplicated at the rear of the package, and/or on each side of the package, to provide a removable cover, without departing from the invention.

Having particularly described the invention, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration, and that changes, omissions, additions, substitutions and/or modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. Accordingly it is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the claims, the various features of patentable novelty that reside in the invention.

i claim:

1. A receptacle comprising a body section including an upright front wall having formed therein a recess opening on the top edge thereof, a pair of slots extending downwardly from the bottom of said recess respectively on opposite sides thereof, and a pair of vertically extending slits disposed respectively upon opposite sides of said recess, and a pair of projections extending inwardly toward one another respectively from opposite sides of said recess and overhanging said slots, and a cover attached to said body section at the rear of the latter including a flange extending downwardly on the inner side of said upjection through the associated one of said slits, being snugly received by the latter.

2. A receptacle comprising a body section including an upright front wall having formed therein a recess opening on the top edge thereof, a pair of slots extending downwardly from the bottom of said recess respectively on opposite sides thereof, and a pair of vertically extending slits disposed respectively upon opposite sides of said recess, and a pair of projections extending inwardly toward one another respectively from opposite sides of said recess and overhanging said slots, and a cover attached to said body section at the rear of the latter including a flange extending downwardly on the inner side of said upright front wall,'and a pair of tabs struck from said flange and extending horizontally outwardly from one another in opposite directions, said tabs being spaced from one another a distance substantially corresponding to the distance between said slots, each of said tabs being of a width to fit snugly between the lower terminal edge of the associated slot and the overlying one of said projections, and of a length to extend horizontally from said recess for projection through the associated one of said slits, being snugly received by the latter.

3. A receptacle comprising a body section including an upright front wall having formed therein a recess opening on the top edge thereof, a pair of slots extending downwardly from the bottom of said recess respectively on opposite sides thereof, and a pair of vertically extending slits disposed respectively upon opposite sides of said recess, and a pair of projections extending inwardly toward one another respectively from opposite sides of said recess and overhanging said slots, and a cover attached to said body section at the rear of the latter including a flange extending downwardly on the inner side of said upright front wall, and a pair of tabs struck from said flange and thereby leaving therein corresponding tab openings, said tabs extending horizontally outwardly from one another in opposite directions, and being spaced from one another a distance substantially corresponding to the distance between said slots, each of said tabs being of a width corresponding substantially to the distance between the lower terminal edge of the associated slot and the overlying one of said projections, and to the length of the corresponding slit, and of a length to extend horizontally from said recess for projectionthrough the associated one of said slits and tab openings.

4. A receptacle comprising a body section including an upright front wall having formed therein a recess opening on the top edge thereof, and a pair of vertically extending slits spaced from said top edge and disposed respectively upon opposite sides of said recess, and a pair of projections extending inwardly toward one another respectively from opposite sides, and disposed above the bottom, of said recess, and a cover attached to said body section at the rear of the latter including a flange extending downwardly on the inner side of said upright front wall, and a pair of tabs carried by said flange and extend-ing horizontally outwardly from one another in opposite directions, said tabs being spaced from one another a distance substantially-corresponding to the width of said recess under said projectionseach of said tabs being of a width to fit snugly between the bottom of said recess and the overlying one of said projections, and of a length to extend horizontally from said recess for projection through the associated one of said slits, being snugly received by the latter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,023,855 Rosenfeld Dec. 10, 1935 2,649,239 Ellsworth Aug. 18, 1953 2,663,488 Gibbons Dec. 22, 1953 2,667,297 McReary Jan. 26, 1954 2,678,153 Buttery May'll, 1954 2,809,777 Davidson Oct. 15, 1957 

